http://medicineworld.org/cancer/cancer-blog.html Cancer blog from medicineworld.org adds a personal touch to the stories related to cancer. This cancer blog brings you stories of hope, stories of survivors and latest news and research related to cancer. Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:45:17 GMT en-us http://medicineworld.org/images/blogs/cancer-cells.jpg http://medicineworld.org/cancer/cancer-blog.html 82 90 http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/10-2008/predicts-whether-liver-cancer-likely-to-recur.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/10-2008/predicts-whether-liver-cancer-likely-to-recur.html Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:45:17 GMT Scientists are poised to unlock the genetic secrets stored in hundreds of thousands of cancer biopsy samples locked in long-term storage and previously believed to be useless for modern genetic research. With the aid of a new technique developed by Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers, researchers can now reconstruct thousands of genes that are "shredded" into tiny pieces when tissue samples are treated with a chemical fixative and stored in wax a protocol that is usually used to preserve the samples........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/10-2008/novel-lung-cancer-vaccine-trial-launched.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/10-2008/novel-lung-cancer-vaccine-trial-launched.html Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:45:17 GMT Oncologists at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in La Jolla are hoping to stave off the relentless march of advanced lung cancer by treating patients with a novel kind of cancer vaccine. While a number of vaccines attempt to pump up the immune system to fight off a cancer, the new vaccine, Lucanix, is genetically engineered to also trick the cancer into turning off its immune system-suppressing activities........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/10-2008/stool-dna-testing-for-colorectal-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/10-2008/stool-dna-testing-for-colorectal-cancer.html Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:45:17 GMT The first generation of a stool DNA test to identify early colorectal cancer has limitations, as per a Mayo Clinic-led study reported in the Oct. 7, 2008, issue of Annals of Internal Medicine Results did not corroborate findings of an earlier multicenter study that showed stool DNA testing was more accurate than fecal blood testing for colorectal cancer detection. *........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/10-2008/breast-cancer-cells-recycle-to-escape-death.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/10-2008/breast-cancer-cells-recycle-to-escape-death.html Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:45:17 GMT A number of breast cancer cells facing potentially lethal antiestrogen treatment recycle to survive, scientists say. About 70 percent of breast cancer cells have receptors for the hormone estrogen, which acts as a nutrient and stimulates their growth. Patients typically get an antiestrogen such as tamoxifen for five years to try to starve them to death, says Dr. Patricia V. Schoenlein, cancer researcher in the Medical College of Georgia Schools of Medicine and Graduate Studies........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/10-2008/colonoscopy-reduces-colorectal-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/10-2008/colonoscopy-reduces-colorectal-cancer.html Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:45:17 GMT Patients who undergo a complete negative colonoscopy have a reduced occurence rate of colorectal cancer, confirms a study published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology However, in the proximal colon, the incidence reduction of colorectal cancer following complete negative colonoscopy differs in magnitude and timing. The reduction of colorectal cancer is observed in about half of the 14 follow-up years and for the most part occurs after just seven years of follow-up. Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology is the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/10-2008/breakthrough-optical-technology.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/10-2008/breakthrough-optical-technology.html Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:45:17 GMT Scientists at NorthShore University HealthSystem (NorthShore) and Northwestern University have discovered that fiber optic technology can for the very first time effectively measure blood levels in the colonic lining (mucosa) in humans, thus having potential applications for analyzing risk of colon cancer........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/9-2008/birth-size-is-a-marker-of-breast-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/9-2008/birth-size-is-a-marker-of-breast-cancer.html Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:45:17 GMT Birth size, and in particular birth length, correlates with subsequent risk of breast cancer in adulthood, as per a new study published in PLoS Medicine by scientists at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Associations between birth size, perhaps as a marker of the pre-natal environment, and subsequent breast cancer risk have been identified before, but the findings from epidemiological studies have been inconsistent........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/9-2008/hepatitis-b-exposure-and-pancreatic-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/9-2008/hepatitis-b-exposure-and-pancreatic-cancer.html Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:45:17 GMT HOUSTON - In a first-of-its-kind finding, scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have discovered that exposure to the hepatitis B virus (HBV) may increase the risk of pancreas cancer. The study, reported in the Oct. 1 edition of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, also suggests that patients with this lethal form of cancer treated with chemotherapy may face danger of reactivation of their HBV........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/9-2008/less-nicotine-to-the-brain-than-regular-cigarettes.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/9-2008/less-nicotine-to-the-brain-than-regular-cigarettes.html Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:45:17 GMT For decades now, cigarette makers have marketed so-called light cigarettes which contain less nicotine than regular smokes with the implication that they are less harmful to smokers' health. A new UCLA study shows, however, that they deliver nearly as much nicotine to the brain. Reporting in the current online edition of the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, UCLA psychiatry professor Dr. Arthur L. Brody and his colleagues observed that low-nicotine cigarettes act similarly to regular cigarettes, occupying a significant percentage of the brain's nicotine receptors........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/9-2008/prevention-and-treatment-of-pancreatic-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/9-2008/prevention-and-treatment-of-pancreatic-cancer.html Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:45:17 GMT A number of gastrointestinal tumors, including pancreas cancer, have been shown to overexpress the EGFR. The overexpression of EGFR correlates with rapidly progressive disease and poor prognosis. Targeting EGFR pathway as a potential therapeutic strategy for pancreas cancer has been developed. Erlotinib is a small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor that efficiently blocks EGFR. Preliminary results of phase III trial in pancreas cancer revealed an improvement in survival with the addition of erlotinib. Treatment with anti-EGFR agents is used as a potential therapeutic strategy for pancreas cancer, but the mechanisms are still not precisely understood........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/9-2008/determine-whether-to-treat-prostate-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/9-2008/determine-whether-to-treat-prostate-cancer.html Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:45:17 GMT Concerns regarding the association of hormone treatment used to treat prostate cancer with cardiovascular disease in some older men may lead doctors to forgo hormone therapy solely on the basis of age. But a new study by physicians at Fox Chase Cancer Center shows that men over age 70 with high-risk prostate cancer lived longer and experienced increases in PSA less frequently when treated with long-term androgen deprivation treatment........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/9-2008/1-week-radiation-effective-breast-cancer-treatment.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/9-2008/1-week-radiation-effective-breast-cancer-treatment.html Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:45:17 GMT Boston Accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) using a type of radiation seed implants called balloon brachytherapy, a newer type of radiation therapy that offers more convenience to early-stage patients with breast cancer by shortening radiation treatment from the standard six to seven weeks of therapy to only one week, is as effective in keeping breast cancer from coming back as the standard external beam radiation therapy, as per a research studypresented September 22, 2008, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology's 50th Annual Meeting in Boston........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/9-2008/side-effects-of-breast-cancer-treatment.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/9-2008/side-effects-of-breast-cancer-treatment.html Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:45:17 GMT Boston Acupuncture is as effective and longer-lasting in managing the common debilitating side effects of hot flashes, night sweats, and excessive sweating (vasomotor symptoms) linked to breast cancer therapy and has no therapy side effects in comparison to conventional drug treatment, as per a first-of-its-kind study presented September 24, 2008, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology's 50th Annual Meeting in Boston........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/9-2008/radiation-plus-hormone-therapy-in-prostate-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/9-2008/radiation-plus-hormone-therapy-in-prostate-cancer.html Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:45:17 GMT Boston For men with locally advanced prostate cancer the addition of radiation therapy to anti-androgen hormone treatment reduces the risk of dying of prostate cancer by 50 percent in comparison to those who have anti-androgen hormone therapy alone, as per a randomized study presented September 22, 2008, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology's 50th Annual Meeting in Boston........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/9-2008/physicians-may-miss-opportunities.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/9-2008/physicians-may-miss-opportunities.html Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:45:17 GMT In a small study of 20 audiorecorded interactions, physicians seldom responded empathetically to concerns raised by lung cancer patients, as per a report in the September 22 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "Empathy is an important element of effective communication between patients and physicians and is linked to improved patient satisfaction and compliance with recommended therapy," the authors write as background information in the article. "Patients who are more satisfied with the communication in their medical encounters have improved understanding of their condition, with less anxiety and improved mental functioning." However, responding to patients' emotional needs can be challenging for physicians; they may begin medical school with empathy for their patients but gradually learn detachment, perhaps in order to cope with time constraints or sadness........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/9-2008/gastric-cancer-with-3-pathological-features.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/9-2008/gastric-cancer-with-3-pathological-features.html Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:45:17 GMT Primary carcinoma of the stomach is almost always adenocarcinoma or signet ring cell carcinoma and there are few reports of choriocarcinoma or neuroendocrine cell carcinoma. We report a patient with adenocarcinoma of the stomach combined with choriocarcinoma and neuroendocrine cell carcinoma. This is the first reported case of gastric cancer with these three pathological features........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/9-2008/pazopanib-shrinks-lung-cancers-before-surgery.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/9-2008/pazopanib-shrinks-lung-cancers-before-surgery.html Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:45:17 GMT Pazopanib, a new oral angiogenesis inhibitor, has demonstrated interesting activity in difficult to treat non-small-cell lung cancer, US scientists report. In a phase II trial, 30 out of 35 patients treated with preoperative pazopanib for a minimum of two weeks saw their tumor size shrink by up to 85%........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/9-2008/new-drug-extends-survival-in-pancreatic-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/9-2008/new-drug-extends-survival-in-pancreatic-cancer.html Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:45:17 GMT A new form of chemotherapy that destroys new blood vessels that grow around tumors has produced excellent results in a phase II trial of patients with inoperable pancreas cancer, scientists report at the 33rd Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) in Stockholm. European researchers led by Prof. Matthias Lhr from the Karolinska Institute reviewed the efficacy and safety of three different doses of cationic lipid complexed paclitaxel (EndoTAG-1) administered twice weekly, in combination with weekly infusions of gemcitabine, in comparison to gemcitabine alone, in 200 patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma........ ]]>